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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24173296">love, gimme love, gimme love (i don't need it)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/psybexm/pseuds/psybexm'>psybexm</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword &amp; Shield | Pokemon Sword &amp; Shield Versions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Arguing, Exes, Flashbacks, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Sex, Past Relationship(s), Pre-Canon, Unresolved Emotional Tension</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:21:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,108</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24173296</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/psybexm/pseuds/psybexm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The top floor of Rose Tower is perfect for holding uninterrupted, confidential conversations.</p><p>Alternatively, Rose has a chat with the Champion he lost to.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>love, gimme love, gimme love (i don't need it)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>title is from "Na Na Na" by my chemical romance. not beta read.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The observation deck at the top of Rose Tower is seldom occupied. The man it is made for is usually far too busy, and more often than not, it remains empty, quiet and untouched.</p><p>However, this is not one of those occasions.</p><p>“So, what’s the deal with that energy problem you discovered?”</p><p>Rose glances over at the woman beside him. Former Champion Evelyn O’Malley looks out at the Galarian skyline, red hair streaked with grey, emerald eyes weary, still tired even after years since losing her position in Galar’s league. She is only 45, though the stress of her former position makes her appear older, world-weary.</p><p>
  <em>Though, she still looks lovely. Always has, he thinks, though he doesn’t say it. Those years are behind them, now. They have been for quite some time.</em>
</p><p>He smiles at her. “Our top scientists have discovered something that we believe may avert the energy crisis as quickly as possible. Of course, there are certain risks involved with it, as there is with everything, but this is most definitely the best solution yet! Galar’s energy consumption <em>is</em> increasing at an alarming rate, after all—it’s imperative that we act <em>quickly</em> now that we’ve established a potential solution.”</p><p> She raises an eyebrow, and then, because he knows she’ll ask, he adds, “In layman’s terms, we’ve found a solution. A quick fix, if you will.”</p><p>He is surprised when Evelyn smiles; a genuine one, not the fake ones she had plastered on for the cameras in her four years as Champion. “Have ya, now? Any specifics, or is it another one of your little <em>secrets?</em>”</p><p>
  <em>Secrets. What tore them apart. He told too little, and she told too much. They had tried to work around it, truly, they had, though his lack of give drove her away more and more, and then eventually, she was gone, as if she had never been there at all.</em>
</p><p>“I’m afraid I can’t tell you all that much,” Rose sighs, averting his eyes, not willing to meet her own. <em>Another day, another secret with you, she told him once. You’re a damned journal with a padlock on it.</em> “Confidential Macro Cosmos data, unfortunately.”</p><p>Out of the corner of his eye, he can see her smile drop, as it always does when he doesn’t tell her something. A cigarette, previously dangling between slender fingers, is brought up to wine-coloured lips. She’s always had such nasty habits when she’s upset.</p><p>
  <em>They’re laying in his bed, bare chests pressed against each other as the sunset filters through sheer curtains. How do you think Evelyn Rose would sound, she asks. He thinks for a moment. Lovely, my pearl, he murmurs against the shell of her ear. They had both been so terribly naïve back then.</em>
</p><p>“Go figure.” Her words are spoken with a puff of acrid smoke, instantly carried away by the gentle mid-afternoon breeze. “Seems like everything is, these days. Where’d you throw away the key to?”</p><p>
  <em>They had been far more open in the beginning. Of course, his business had grown larger. Confidential information slipped passed his lips once, twice, and so he fell quiet. That had been the beginning of the end, though they had not known it.</em>
</p><p>He falls quiet. She scoffs. “Meowth still got your tongue, even after all these years?”</p><p>He finds the strength to look back over at her, and her eyes are as hard as the precious stones they resemble. Her Hatterene stands next to her, seemingly serene, though he knows better. His own Copperajah stands quiet, ready to leap to his defense if needed. They both know how that battle will go, however.</p><p>
  <em>By all means, he should have won. A Copperajah against a Hatterene. Both of their final Pokémon, and only one could win. Just one missed Iron Head, and he was done for. No battle between the two of them would be won by him, try as he might.</em>
</p><p>“No.” His voice is tight, icy. It is not the first time she had heard this tone, though he still pinpoints an almost imperceptible twitch of her brow, a minute widening of her eyes. He is a calm man, of course, but patience has its limits. “I have to keep confidential information just that. You remember what happened when I did <em>not.</em>”</p><p>
  <em>He hadn’t meant to let it slip, of course, but there was no taking it back. She forgot soon enough, but it had still been said, and there was little more he could do.</em>
</p><p>It is her turn to fall quiet. She drops the remains of her cigarette onto the floor of the observation deck, crushing it out underneath her foot with a huff. “I <em>know</em> that. Still, how many years of radio silence will I get from you?”</p><p>Rose pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger with a lengthy exhale, briefly shutting his eyes as his hair gently blows in the breeze. “There are things I <em>can</em> say, and things I <em>cannot—</em>”</p><p>“Oh, bullshit!”</p><p>He’s taken aback, of course, though it is not the first time he has heard her yell. Far from it, as a matter of fact, though he cannot help but startle as if it were the first time he has heard her voice anything beyond its usual melodic lilt.</p><p>“You used to tell me <em>everything,</em>” Evelyn sighs, “I <em>miss you.</em> What happened to the man I knew?”</p><p>Her Hatterene bristles at her shout and subsequent emotion. It is swiftly returned to its Ultra Ball. “I just… you’re not the same man that you were when we first met. I miss when I <em>knew you.</em>”</p><p>He pauses. “As do I. You know this.”</p><p>A tense silence falls between them. She has lit another cigarette. He has retracted his Copperajah for its own health. The Monorail below them is a blur running through Wyndon. The ferris wheel takes on a new bunch of patrons.</p><p>
  <em>They had ridden it together, once. It had stopped at the top, of course, he had ensured it.</em>
</p><p>“Good luck,” she finally says, slowly blinking as she sighs in defeat. She turns on her heel, her skirt rustling in the breeze.</p><p>“Goodbye, Elijah.”</p><p>“Goodbye, Evelyn. Have a safe trip home.”</p><p>She doesn’t reply, and the clicking sound of her heels is his only indication that she has left as he looks over Wyndon’s skyline. Rose sighs once more, fidgeting with the elaborate strap of his watch as the sounds of the city below him blend into a dull cacophony of noise.</p><p>It is only necessary, keeping secrets the way he does. She will see that soon enough. They all will.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>if you enjoyed this, be sure to follow my tumblr @trainerpeony ! thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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